Printings inks serve to circulate information and are used in nearly all products surrounding us in our day-to-day lives. A quick glance suffices: a calendar on the wall, the newspaper on the table, a packet of biscuits, a catalog of goods or the wallpaper itself – all products have been printed in order to color and decorate them or to provide us with information regarding the content. The importance of printing inks greatly exceeds the revenues of more than US$20 billion that was generated in this segment in 2011. From publication to package printing Development in modern information technology results in changes that producers and traders of printing inks have to adapt to. The major challenge is posed by the increasing popularity of electronic media – newspapers and books are read on e-readers, information and correspondence are exchanged via the internet.
Marketing expenses are increasingly redirected towards TV, radio, or internet ads and thus contribute even further to the substitution of traditional print media. Package printing, on the other hand, is becoming more important to the printing industry. “Goods still have to be packed and consumers need information about the product when they are holding the package. Trade conducted via the internet supports mail order trade and, consequently, increases the need for packaging material”, explains Oliver Kutsch, CEO of Ceresana. Demographic changes in industrialized countries and socio-economic changes in many emerging markets result in a change of consumer behavior regarding packaged foodstuffs. These influences demand packaging material accordingly. Digital printing scores with flexibility At the same time as requirement profile changes in the printing applications, so does the distribution of the printing processes employed. As print run sizes fall and demand for customized printing products rises, digital printing is in the best position to substitute other printing processes and to expand into new application areas. Continuing development further reduces production costs while quality rises. Another printing process to currently profit at above-average growth rates is flexography. Given its dominance on the market for package printing, this segment, in particular, can capitalize on the expanding market for packaging products and may also replace other printing processes in various printing applications.
The development towards environmental sustainability One reason to substitute printing processes is a weaker negative impact on the environment that a new process may have. Both authorities and consumers increasingly demand processes that use hazardous chemicals in the production of printing plates or that utilize solvent-based printing inks with high VOC emissions to be replaced by alternative methods. Both printing processes such as offset, gravure, flexographic, and screen printing as well as the inks used have to be refined. Progress has been made for instance in the sectors radiation cured printing inks and mixtures with natural resins. Electronic printing as a newcomer Printing inks are customized products that have been developed to fit specific printing processes and applications. The diversity of media to print on and of application areas for the finished products makes a high degree of flexibility indispensable. New application areas emerge that offer the opportunity for printing technologies to establish themselves.
A current example is electronic printing, a process that creates complete electronic parts utilizing conductive printing inks. These parts are often used in RFID-chips, displays or solar cells. The study in brief:
Chapter 1 provides a presentation and analysis of the market for printing inks – including forecasts up to 2019: revenues development, as well as production and consumption volumes, are analyzed for each region.
Chapter 2 examines the 16 largest countries of the market in more detail. Data on demand, revenues, production, import, and export is provided. Demand is split by the printing processes offset, gravure, flexographic, digital printing, and other printing processes. It is analyzed in detail.
In chapter 3, processing technologies of printing inks, as well as influences exercised by various areas of application, are examined in an in-depth analysis: data on demand development, split by Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.
Chapter 4 provides profiles of the largest manufacturers of printing inks – clearly arranged according to contact details, turnover, profit, product range, production sites, and profile summary. In-depth profiles of 87 manufacturers are given, including Altana, Dainichiseika, DIC, Flint Group, Fujifilm North America, Huber, Royal Dutch Van Son, Sakata, Inx, Sanchez, Sicpa, Siegwerk Druckfarben, T&K TOKA, Tokyo Printing Ink or TOYO INK.
About Ceresana: Ceresana is a leading international market research and consultancy company for the industrial sector and operates branch offices in Constance, Vienna, and Hong Kong. For more than 10 years, it has been supplying several thousand customers from 55 countries with up-to-date market intelligence. Extensive market knowledge creates new prospects for strategic and operational decisions. Ceresana’s clients profit from practical consulting services, tailor-made single-client studies, and more than 40 independent multi-client market studies. The Ceresana business analysts are specialists in markets chemicals, plastics, additives, commodities, industrial components, packaging, and construction materials. More about Ceresana at www.ceresana.com
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